Territorial jurisdiction in wrongful withholding of company property turns on where the offence was committed, not the registered office.

Territorial jurisdiction for a complaint alleging wrongful withholding of company property depends on where the offending act was committed, not on the company's registered office or a later direction to deliver the property. The Delhi HC noted that an offence under section 630 of the Companies Act is complete when property is wrongfully obtained, withheld or misapplied, and that later return of the property is not an ingredient of the offence. As no act constituting the offence was shown within Delhi's local limits, the court held that Delhi lacked territorial jurisdiction and quashed the complaint.

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Issues: Whether the Delhi court had territorial jurisdiction to try the complaint under section 630 of the Companies Act, and whether the complaint pending before the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate was liable to be quashed.

Analysis: The complaint alleged removal and wrongful withholding of company property, books of account, machinery parts, gas cylinders, and funds at Mandi Govind Garh, where the factory was situated and where the petitioner was said to have acted. The applicable criminal procedure provisions required offences to be tried ordinarily where committed, and where relevant, where the act was done or the consequence ensued. The Court held that the offence under section 630 is complete when property is wrongfully obtained, withheld, or misapplied, and that the later return of property is not an ingredient of the offence. The mere presence of the registered office at Delhi, or the possibility of an order directing delivery of property, did not by itself confer jurisdiction on the Delhi court when no act constituting the offence was shown within its local limits.

Conclusion: The Delhi court lacked territorial jurisdiction, and the complaint was quashed in favour of the petitioner.

Final Conclusion: The decision rests on the principle that jurisdiction for an offence under section 630 must be traced to the place where the offending act was committed, not merely to the location of the company's registered office or to the place where property may later be directed to be returned.

Ratio Decidendi: For an offence under section 630 of the Companies Act, territorial jurisdiction lies where the wrongful act constituting the offence occurs, and not merely where the company's registered office is situated or where an ancillary direction for delivery of property may be executed.

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